The life cycle of the pteropod Limacina helicina in Rivers Inlet (British Columbia, Canada) ...

• Main Author: Wang, Kang
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2014
• Subjects: Limacina helicina
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0167397; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0167397

The life cycle of Limacina helicina has been continuously debated within the literature. We believe the current lack of consensus regarding fundamental aspects of its life cycle (e.g. seasonal times of spawning, seasonal development of the population size structure, as well as the life cycle longevity) is primarily due to using datasets of low temporal resolution. Using fort-nightly data, two population cohorts were identified using the mixdist statistical package and tracked for more than 400 days, throughout 2008 to 2010. From this, a life cycle longevity of 1.2--1.5 years was estimated for L. helicina in Rivers Inlet. Throughout the seasons, the population size structure showed a continually high presence of the smaller size-groups suggesting continuous spawning, however, based on total densities of > 600 ind.m^-³, the late spring was put forward as the period of peak spawning. Continuous spawning was confirmed with the use of daily data. Identification of a summer peak spawning established late spring ...